Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fairfax Financial Profit Rises on Investments
Jul 29 2011 // Fairfax Financial Holdings, which took a 9 percent stake in Bank of Ireland earlier this week, said Thursday its quarterly profit rose from a year earlier due mainly to increases in its stock and bond portfolios. The...
Insurance Co. and Colorado Farmers Settle Fraud Claim
Jul 28 2011 // Two Colorado potato farmers and the Great American Insurance Company have agreed to settle a case in which they are accused of making false crop insurance claims for $131,000, the U.S. attorney in Denver, John Walsh,...
Michigan Group Seeks Supreme Court Review of Healthcare Law
Jul 28 2011 // A Michigan-based legal group Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to review and overturn a decision that found President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law constitutional. In the first of several appeals likely to...
Zurich to Offer Accident Benefits for Overseas Federal Contract Workers
Jul 27 2011 // Zurich is now offering accident benefits to U.S. government contract workers who are employed overseas. Zurich’s new Defense Base Act (DBA) Accident Wraparound policy provides benefits for employees who are involved...
Lloyd’s America President Watkins Campaigns for Broader Appeal
Jul 27 2011 // Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd’s America Inc., smiles like he has a big secret he wants to spill. The history of Lloyd’s of London is no secret: originated in Edward Lloyd’s coffee shop in London;...
Death of the Treasury Benchmark: James Saft Commentary
Jul 26 2011 // A U.S. default or debt downgrade may set off market fireworks but the longer-term effects of the death of Treasury bonds as a universal benchmark of risk may ultimately be more significant. The U.S. appears to be slouching...
N.Y. Attorney General Challenges Constitutionality of Defense of Marriage Act
Jul 26 2011 // In papers filed in the case of Windsor v. United States, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman challenged the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which redefined marriage for...
Moody’s: U.S. P/C Insurers’ Report Meaningful 2010 Reserve Releases
Jul 26 2011 // U.S. property/casualty insurers reported meaningful reserve redundancies in their 2010 earnings, Moody’s Investors Service said, marking the sixth straight year in which the industry has posted a benefit to...
More U.S. Lawsuits Target Chinese Reverse Mergers
Jul 26 2011 // Accounting debacles at U.S.-listed Chinese companies have prompted a surge of securities fraud lawsuits, but investors might have trouble recouping their losses even if they win. More than one-fourth of the 94 U.S....
Best Gauges Potential Impact of U.S. Debt Ceiling Impasse on Insurers
Jul 25 2011 // “With the credit quality of the U.S. imperiled by the current impasse over raising the debt ceiling, insurance companies are facing increased overall risk on their balance sheets,” states A.M. Best. The company...
Final U.S. Report on BP Gulf Oil Disaster Delayed
Jul 25 2011 // A U.S. team probing the causes of last year’s massive BP oil spill has delayed the release of its final report in order to more fully weigh the evidence, investigators said on Friday. The government’s findings...
Fake Apple Store Cuts to Core of China’s Risk to Brands
Jul 22 2011 // A fake Apple store in China, made famous by a blog that said even the staff working there didn’t realize it was a bogus outlet, is probably the most audacious example to date of the risks Western companies face in...
UK Broker BMS Continues Overall Growth
Jul 22 2011 // Specialist insurance broker BMS Group announced that its results for the year ended December 31, 2010, show a “strengthening of financial resources and a share buyback,” which will “support BMS’...
U.S. Cyber Arrests Seen Leading to More Hackers
Jul 22 2011 // The FBI’s arrest this week of 16 people who allegedly participated in high-profile cyber attacks is providing a treasure trove of information and will lead to further arrests, a U.S. law enforcement official told...
Plaintiffs in Wal-Mart Bias Case Return to Court
Jul 22 2011 // Plaintiffs in a huge sex bias class-action case against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court will begin to unveil plans Friday for how they will try to resuscitate their lawsuits. Lawyers for...
MetLife to Sell Banking Unit to Avoid ‘Too Big To Fail’ Regulation
Jul 22 2011 // MetLife, the largest life insurance company in the United States, has put its banking operations up for sale to avoid the “too big to fail” regulatory scrutiny that analysts have said was likely. MetLife said...
S&P Says 50-50 Chance of U.S. Ratings Downgrade
Jul 21 2011 // Standard & Poor’s reiterated Thursday it sees a real risk that future U.S. government deficits may meaningfully miss discussed targets and that there is a 50-50 chance the U.S. ‘AAA’ credit rating...
9/11 Families Seek Meeting on News Corp. Phone Hacking Reports
Jul 21 2011 // Relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks have asked to meet the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department to discuss the agencies’ preliminary inquiry into reports that News Corp. reporters may have tried to hack the...
U.S. Judge Allows Shareholder Suits Against China Accountants
Jul 21 2011 // The fourth time was the charm for shareholders suing the auditors of Shenzhen-based China Expert Technology. China Expert shareholders have been trying unsuccessfully to sue the company’s accounting firms for failing...
Canada’s Reformed Class Action Law Wins Few Friends
Jul 20 2011 // A Canadian law designed to make it easier to bring class action suits against companies that mislead investors has all sides frustrated as it faces its first real-world tests. Changes to the Ontario Securities Act that...
